Spring draft attachment for vehicles



(No Model.)

H. BARBER. SPRING DRAFT ATTACHME'NTFOR YEHIGLES.

No; 558,143. Patented Apr. 14, 1896.

. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IIIRAM BARBER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SPRING DRAFT ATTACHMENT FOR VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 558,143, datedApril-14, 1896.

Application fil d June 17, 1895. Serial No 553,060. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HIRAM BARBER, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Ohicago, in the county of Cook, State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Spring Draft Attachmentsfor Vehicles, of which the following is such afull, clear, and exactdescription as to enable others skilled in the art to make and use myi11- vention.

Of the drawings herewith submitted, Figure 1 is a broken perspective ofmy improved spring draft attachment. Fig. 2 is a plan view of one end ofthe evener in my improved spring draft attachment. Fig. 3 is anelevation, sectional, through the casing O on the line 3 3 in myimproved spring draft attachment. Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4 Aof my improved spring draft attachment. Fig. 5 is a perspective detailof anchor-plate A in my improved spring draft attachment.

It will be observed that in the construction of my improved spring draftattachment as herein set forth I make use of the hollow metallic casing0, attached to the end of the wooden evener E. The casing O is providedwith the sleeve 0', into which the end of the evener E is inserted andwhere it is firmly secured by means of bolts passing through the sleeve0 and the evener E. The upper and lower surfaces of the casing C areprovided with the parallel longitudinal slots 0 O. The rear face of thecasing C is open and is closed by means of the cap K. I insert into thishollow casing C an anchor-plate A, also the springs S S and the rods RB. When in position, the rear ends of the springs S S rest,respectively, in the recesses V V of the anchor-plate A, with the rods R'R passing through the apertures in the plate K, the rear walls w w ofthe anchor A also longitudinally through the springs S S and extendingthrough the front wall 0 of the casing O. I am thus enabled to insertthe casing G into the clevis U and pass the bolt B through the aperturesin the rear end of the clevis U and through the rear end of the slot 0into the thimble T of the anchor-plate A. WVhen, therefore, forwardmotion is given to the clevis U, the anchor-plate A is moved forward inthe casing 0, thus bringing the rear walls 10 'w against the rear end ofthe springs S S, which are thus compressed against the front walls 0 ofthe casing O, and thus afford a yielding connection between thedraft-animal and the vev hicle.

111 spring draft attachments hitherto in use where the device has beenattached to the evener the point of attachment has been usually at thecenter of the evener. Some of these devices have taken the form of aleafspring attached at the rear of the evener,while others have been soconstructed as to form a receptacle in which the central portion of theevener has been placed, either in front or in the rear of the spring inuse. In both cases the old method of attaching the evener to the wagonor vehicle has been to a certain extent modified-that is to say, thebody of the evener has been given freedom of motion backward andforward. This system has been found to be unsatisfactory to many usingthe same.

In my improved spring draft attachment it will be observed that theattachment is applied to each end of the evener, thus preserving the oldmethod of attaching the evener to the wagon or vehicle, and thusovercoming one of the objections hitherto encountered in theintroduction of spring draft attachments of this character.

Having thus explained the object and purpose, method of construction,and mode of operation of my improved spring draft attachment, what Iclaim as new and as of my invention, and for which I seek LettersPatent, is as follows, to wit:

1. In a spring draft attachment for vehicles, the combination with themetallic casing 0 having the slots 0 in its upper and lower faces, openat its rear end, and having the side sleeve 0 to receive the end of theevener; of the anchor-plate A having the pockets V, V, and thimbleT; thesprings S, S, bolt B, and clevis U, substantially as and for the purposespecified.

2. In a spring draft attachment the body of the metallic casing, 0,provided with the sleeve, C, with the evener, E, the coil-springs, S, S,the rods, R, R, the anchor-plate, A, and cap, K, the clevis, U and thebolt, B, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

Dated June 15, 1895.

HIRAM BARBER. I11 presence of- EDWIN A. THOMAS, GEO. F. CRT.

